1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an improved method for determining whether a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver is located within a predetermined distance from a base point.
2. Background
2D Fix and Three Satellite Fix Geofencing Problem
Geofencing is determining the position of an object relative to a base position. A boundary located a predetermined distance away from the base position is a geofence, and the object being tracked is either inside, directly on, or outside the geofence boundary. One way to perform geofencing is to attach a GPS receiver to the object to be tracked and use GPS data from the receiver to determine where the object is relative to the geofence.
A standard GPS fix requires signals from at least four satellites, however, the use of a three satellite GPS fix is a common practice in commercial GPS receivers. The reason for the use of a three satellite fix is the desire to increase GPS fix availability, frequently impeded by partial satellite view blockages. Though the three satellite fix increases fix availability, it has a serious drawback: the position obtained from a three satellite fix has, generally unpredictable, and often large, horizontal position errors. That makes the standard three satellite fix, where the output is a point position, especially unsuitable for geofence applications.
In co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/692,665 filed Mar. 28, 2007, it was shown that the general solution of the two satellite fix problem is a surface. All references cited herein are incorporated by reference. Similarly, the solution of the three satellite fix problem is a curved line. The line can be approximated as a straight line in an area the size much smaller than a distance to a GPS satellite. This line is called a solution line.
Normally, a commercial GPS receiver reports the user position as a point (in Lat/Lon/Alt or XYZ coordinates). Since the solution of the three satellite fix is a line, it is necessary to have an additional constraint to obtain a position point.
A commonly used prior art constraint is the assumption of fixed altitude, where the altitude is, normally, taken from a previous (four satellite) GPS fix. With this constraint, the position point is computed as the intersection of the solution line with the locally horizontal plane lying at fixed altitude.
The goal of a geofence application, on the other hand, is not to find a position point, but, rather, to report whether a GPS receiver is inside or outside the user specified geofence volume. In the case of a four satellite GPS fix, one can always tell whether the GPS receiver is inside or outside the volume by comparing the position point coordinates with the coordinates of the geofence volume. In the case of a three satellite fix, there is a solution line instead of a point. With the solution line there can be the following two cases:
a) The solution line bypasses the geofence volume. In this case the GPS receiver is surely outside the geofence volume, or a geofence alarm is not present.
b) The solution line penetrates the geofence volume. In this case, it is not known whether the GPS receiver is inside or outside the geofence volume.
A method is therefore desired to determine whether an object falls into case a or b and if in case b, to further refine the solution to determine a probability that the object is inside or outside the geofence volume.